Science Policy Around the Web – November 30, 2012

Tobacco Companies Are Told to Correct Lies About Smoking –A recent ruling by Judge Gladys Kessler of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia requires tobacco companies to publish corrective statements admitting that they lied about the dangers of smoking. Each corrective advertisement must include a statement that a federal court has ruled that tobacco companies “deliberately deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking.” The tobacco companies opposed this ruling; however, Judge Kessler maintains that all of the statements are backed by specific findings of the court. (The Associated Press)

A Huge Pay Cut for Doctors is Hiding in the the Fiscal Cliff – On January 1, a 30 percent pay cut for doctors treating Medicare patients is set to take effect. This pay cut has been looming for a decade. Each year, doctors increase the amount they bill for services and procedures. Therefore, in 1997, Congress adapted a solution to this problem to reduce rising costs to Medicare- if doctors’ fees increased too much per patient per year, Medicare would pay a little less for services. For example, in 2002, using the formula developed by Congress, Medicare was to cut 4 percent from the amount paid to doctors. However, that year, doctors complained resulting in complaints to Congress from Medicare patients, and ultimately, Congress passed a bill to ignore the pay cuts. This pattern repeated itself yearly resulting in a cumulative cut of about 30 percent. This reduction in pay for doctors is one component of the fiscal cliff negotiations. (Channa Joffe-Walt)

Smith Wins Chair of U.S. House Science Committee – Leaders in the House of Representatives recommended that Lamar Smith of Texas become the new chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Representative Smith is about to begin serving his 14th term in Congress and has served on the House science committee for 26 years. While Representative Smith maintains some conservative ideals- including being skeptical of government action on climate change, he has also been successful at working in a bipartisan manner. Many lobbyists for universities and science organizations are happy with the selection. (David Malakoff)